Storage battery



N. D. STURGES STORAGE BATTERY 4Filed April 22, .1935

March 31, 1936.

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- ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 3l, i936 nir sra gaat s'ronson Barrena' NormanD. Sturges, New York, N. Y., assignor to Sturges Battery Corporat'on,New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Yo Application April 22, 1935,Serial No. 17,599

1 Claim.

rality of positive and negative plates, the plates of same polaritybeing connected by straps which are in turn connected to the batteryterminals at l the top of the battery casing. Filling openings with gasvents are likewise provided at the to of the casing to permit theintroduction of electrolyte or water` and the escape of gases-evolved.The plates of a storage battery usually consist of 15 lead grids withactive material such as lead oxides pasted thereon. The electrolyte isusually a water solution of sulphuric acid.

In my U. S. Patent No. 1,905,319, I have described an improvement instorage batteries in- 2@ Volving the utilization of an absorbentmaterial,

for the electrolyte interposed between and surrounding the plates of thebattery. The use of this improvement facilitates the application ofstorage batteries for many purposes to which they are not otherwise welladapted, because the danger of spilling the electrolyte is obviated.However, the ordinary storage battery structure, involving the use ofterminal posts at the top of lthe casing, is notwell adapted forportable applicau tion of the storage battery. It involves the necessityfor complicated connections and the danger of short-circuiting thebattery in use.

lt is the object of the present invention to aftord a simple andpractical storage battery with terminals at the bottom of the batteryadapted to readily connect with conductors in the desired circuit, thebattery having, however, filling openings and gas vents at the top ofthe casing L as in the usual battery structure. The invention isparticularly adapted for application in connection with the patentedimprovement hereinbefore mentioned. It may be utilized also, however. inbatteries containing no absorbent ma- 45 terial.

The structure oi' and the material employed in the battery plates may bethose commonly used in storage batteries and, for example, thoseillustrated and described in my aforesaid Patent4 No.

o 1,905,319. Such details are well known and are notv consequentlydescribed herein. The present invention involves more particularly thecasing in which the active battery elements are housed..

55 The invention will be better understood by ref- (Cl. 13G-16S) erenceto the following specification and the accompanying drawing, in whichFig. 1 is a Vertical section on the line I-I of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the battery;

Fig. 3'is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line Ii-Jl of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detail in section on the line 5--5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a detail in section of the, separable 10 cover; and

Fig. '7 is a perspective View of one of the straps.

Referring to tlie drawing, 5 indicates a casing of hard rubber or othersuitable acid resistant material which, for convenience, is illustratedas divided into three cells by partitions 6. It will be understood thatany number of cells may be employed, depending upon the desired voltageof the battery. Each of the cells encloses a plurality of positive andnegative plates il, all of the positive plates being connected to aterminal l and all of the negative plates being connected to a terminalvil in the usual manner. The terminals l and 3 are not, however, exposed,and are covered by a plate of insulating material 9 which 25 surroundsthe projecting filling openings ld, each of which is normally closed bya cap l2 having a vent i d to permit the escape of the gases evolved bythe operation of the battery. It will be understood that the top of thecasing is sealed ef- Lieetively by the use of a suitable sealingcompound, which ma-y be introduced beneath the plate 9 and about theedges thereof, above the cell covers il, so that the electrolyte cannotseep from the battery casing.

The positive terminal l is connected by a strap lil carried in a grooveki5 in the vertical wall of the battery casing'to a terminal il disposedin a recess in the bottom of the battery. Similarly the negativeterminal il 'is connected by a strap 40 iii disposedain a verticalgroove i@ in the wall of the battery casing to a terminal 2B in a recessin the bottom of the battery casing. The grooves in the battery casingwallsmay, if desired, be nlled with a suitable sealing compound, so thatthe straps are thoroughly insulated.

lllie terminals il and 2U are adapted to rest upon springs 2i and 22disposed in a separable cover 23 having lugs 2li and 25 adapted toengage similarly shaped recesses in the side walls of the battery. Thusthe cover must always be disposed in a definiterelation to the bottom ofthe battery and the springs will always make contact with thecorresponding terminals in the bottom of the battery. The cover 23 maybe made of hard 55 rubber, bakelite, or other suitable insulatingmaterial, and may have connectors projecting from the side opposite thesprings, to which conductors may be secured or may make contact for thepurpose of completing an electric circuit as, for example, through anincandescent lamp in a portable lantern. When the battery ashereinbefore described is -introduced to the lantern frame with the lugsregistering properly as hereinbefore described, a connection with thepositive and negative terminals of the battery will be madeautomatically, and the lantern will be ready for service. When thebattery has been used for a period suicient to deplete its energy, itmay be removed and replaced by another unit which has been recharged.Meanwhile, the exhausted battery may A be placed in a. charging rackwith connections similar to those employed in the lantern and may berecharged for further use.

The structure as described is simple and eiective, facilitates theinterchangeable use of battery units, and avoids the possibility ofimproper connections and short-circuits. In the normal The batteryterminals are not, however,v exposed to possible short-circuits. Theterminals, being at the bottom and being disposed in recesses, cannot beshort-circuited in any ordinaryv handling or use of the battery.

Various changes may be made in the details of form, construction andarrangement of the various parts, and the internal structure of thebattery may be modied with respect to the form of the grids and thecharacter of thse material pasted thereon, and any suitable electrolyte,either with or without absorbent material, can be utilized in thebattery, without departing from the invention or sacrificing any of theadvantages thereof.

I claim: f

A storagebattery comprisinga casing, positive and negative elements andan electrolyte therein, the casing having gas vents at its top andrecesses in its bottom, terminals in the recesses connected respectivelyto the positive and negative elements, a separable cover for the bottomof the battery having connectors adapted to engage the terminals, andlugs adapted to engage corresponding recesses in the casing whereby therelative positions of the cover and casing are predetermined.

NORMAN D. STURGES.

